Child&#39;s toy vehicle



April 7, 1931. w; o. YANCEY 1,799,402

CHILD'S TOYVEHIGLE Filed Ju'lyl, 1929 Patented Apr. 7, 1931 -:1- N T F E L STATES PATE F I T WILLIAM o. YANCEY; or onfIonGo, ILLINo Is 'cIIIIns TOY vEII'IoLn Application filed July 1, 1929. Serial No. 375,216.

' This invention'relates to improvements in childs toy vehicle, and more particularly to a self propelled vehicle in which the forward portion is a walking automaton or figure which keeps pace with-the forward movement of the vehicle. 7 I 7 I The object of the invention is to provide a novel and practical toy for-children including a walking figure havinglegs which support the forward end'of the vehicle and manipulated to function asthough drawing the vehicle and its'passenger. I a

lThe novel features ofithe vehicle are disclosed in the preferredembodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying 'drawingfin which 7 Figurel is a perspective view of the vehicle.

I "Figure 2 is arview in rearelevation of th'e' i rear driving-wheels and the seat of the vehicle.- Figure 8 is through the-walking fig i and Figure 4: is a' perspective View of the lower portion of the body'showing the action of one of the legs. I I As clearly shown in Figure 1,the vehicle "resembles generally a ehilds velocipede or pedal-propelled tricycle in whichthe forward steering wheel has beenre'plaeed by' an upright walking figure 1, such as a large ani- "mated doll, facing in a forward direction.

flinin'ediately behind'the figureis a two wheeledvehicle having a frame of the usual solid or tubular bar construction. As shown in Figure 2, the, rear end portion of the frame consists an upright inverted 'U-s'haped frameemember 2a having bearings at each end which supporta transverse shaft 3'to the ends 'of which the two wheels 4, 4: are fixed.

The crankshaft has a-Jpair of oppositely offset cranks'sa, 3a, at its central portion, carrying a pair of connecting rods 5, 5 extending pair of treadle ba'rs'6, 6.

.Integral'with he rear framemember 2a is a forwardly extending yoke or Y- shaped fra1i1e"meinber-2b' having an eye} at its r forwardend which engages an" eye'bolt 7 d9 anchoredfi nthe back of thefigure, 1, just like foot rests 6a, 6a.

-point justabove'the eye bolt 7 a view in vertical section.

forwardly and pivotally connected with-a below the waist line" and forming a'swivel connection therewith. Midway of t the ends of the Y-shaped frame member'Qb 1s a depending arm having a bifurcated end which support the treadle bars 6, 6 adj acent their rear or connecting rod ends. The

treadle bars assume an inclined position in an upward direction from rear to front, and at their forward and upper ends "arepedal Supported on the vehicle frame is a flat seat'8 extending rearwardly beyond the frame so that the child sits'o'ver the'wheels with'the w eight we'll to rear. *The, seat is extended at the front in the form of a narrow neck or: bar 8a :which is connectedto the figure 1 independently of the vehicle frame, and. at a he seat-8 is not fastto thevehicle frame, but'is designed to be supported thereon so that it canrock slightly fromside to side, and therefore is pivotally mounted on the frame by means ofa bracket 9 fixed to the under I side 'of the seat;near its central portion, and

having'pivotal connection with the rear L frame member 2a, as at 10 (Figure 2) The; forward end of the narrow extension 8a of the seat is 'c'onnected'withthe body of the figure 1 by means of a ring or-band 11 having a rearwardly' opening socket -member tionof the seat is inserted. The ring'll fits '12 fixedthereto and 'into'which said end porsomewhat loosely in a groove about the waist r portion of the body 1, sothat thelatter is free to turn' through a small angle inopposite directions, the angle of turning beinglimited by alug 12?) on the ring engagingaslot 13 in the'body, the length ofthe slot being such as to limit the turning of the figure within a rather small arc," andfor the reason that the figure 1- cannotbe' maneuvered at will, but must proceed a general straight line-and hence the steering is confined to keeping-the vehicle in a generally straight course. I r

The body of the figure maybe ofjanysuita-. ble' construction, which will 'alford lightness is of a solid material such as wood, and of a and durability. A hollow sheet'metal body 7 would be'desirable, but for convenience of illustratiomit may be assumed that the body members of equal length, but without joints at knee or ankle. Feet 16, 16 are provided at the lower extremities of the legs, the same being plate-like supports having rounded or curved bottom surfaces. Thus, as shown in- Figure 1, the feet extend substantially the same distance forwardly and rearwardly of the legs. and are rounded on. their bottoms in a horizontal direction. Moreover, they are rounded transversely on. their bottoms as through an are described from a point somewhere near the center ofthe body. As will presently be seen, it is this; particular curvature of the bottoms ofthe feet which permits the figure to walk.

Thenpper ends-of the legs lie in laterally facing recesses 17, 17. cut into the body on opposite sides and are pivotally connected to the body by a rod 18 extending through the body from side to side, the ends of the rods, forming bearings for thelegs at points a short distance below their upper, ends, so that each leg has a short arm above its pivot which swings back and forth in the enlarged or widened upper portion of its recess. Acting on the upper end of each leg is a coil spring 19 lying in a horizontal position between the front edge of the leg and the forward; face of the recess, and so located is normally under compression and assists in swing.- ing the lower portion of the leg forwardly with each step. Also connected with the upper end of. ea-chlegis a rod 20 connecting the same with the upper end ofthe treadle bar 6 on, the same side. Each of these rods has a slotted forward end portion 20a engaging a pin 21 anchored in the leg, above its pivot. The rear ends of the rods 20, 20 are bent to form eyesQObwhich passthrough similar eyes 611 at the endsof the treadle'bars 6,6. Toconceal the .legrecesses in the body a circular-band 22 of thin metal surrounds the body and is provided with openings 22a through which the rods 20-20 pass.

The vehicle asthus constructed is propelled in the following manner: The child sits on the seat over the wheels and straddles the narrow forward extension thereof, with his feet on the treadle bars, which are alternately depressed to transmit power to the-wheels through theconnecting rods 5, 5 and cranks 3a, 3a inthe usual. manner. The method of propelling the vehicle therefore is not esswntially different from the ordinarytricycle. I

But the figure, 1, must take steps to keep pace with the forward motion of the vehicle, and this is accomplished in the following manner: As the child applies pressure alternately on the treadle bars,.theweight of his figure, the seat is fixed thereto so far as any relative tilting movement is concerned. Thus assuming in Figure 1 that the treadle baron the near side is depressed, the weight thrown toward the same side causes the seat to tilt in the same direction as well as the toy figure, 1, which can rock in either direction on its rounded feet. Now as the leg on the near side, which is extended forwardly, comes in contact with the ground, the leg on the far side is released asits foot leaves the ground and is swung forward by the action of its spring 19 for the next step. In the meantime the vehicle is moving forward so that the figure rocks forward on the rounded foot of the near leg untilthe rocking of the seat in the opposite direction as the far pedal is depressed, tilts the figure onto the extended far leg and releases the near leg. Thus the figure walks ahead with a. stiff-legged swaying gait .in unison with the treadle action propolling the vehiclefrom behind. V 7

It will be observed that while the treadles 6, 6 are'connected with legs of the toy figure, the connection is such that no power of locomotionis imparted to the legs inasmuch as during the downward power stroke of a treadle the slotted end of the rod20' merely slides forward on the pin 21. However, during the upward stroke of either treadle bar, the rod 20 slides in the opposite direction until the forward end of the slot engagesthe pin 21 whereupon it exerts a pull at the ,upperend of the leg assisting the spring injswinging the same to'its forwardly extended position.

It follows, therefore, that figure simply walks ahead of the vehicle at the walking I a pace equal to the speed that the vehicle 1 can bedriven. It is necessary, therefore, to gear the vehicle quite low, so that the linear speed of the wheels is not in excess of the rate at which the figure can walk.

Thesa-me mechanism may be adapted to four-legged animals, so that horses, dogs, and the like, may be used as well as twolegged figures. It will be understood, therefore, that the character represented by the walking figure may be varied without departing fromthe spirit of the invention,

I: c 1 ja1n1.:-.- 1. A wheeled vehicle having a pair of legs.

ground so that one may be extended ahead of the other. p v V l v 2. A vehicle comprising a frame having wheels at the rear thereof, a walking figure connected to the-forward end of said frame and having legs pivotally connected with 7 said figure for swinging movement in par-' allel places and provided with foot-like extremities, a seat pivotally mounted on said frame and also connected with said figure, said seat being tiltable to rock said figure from side to sideas the vehicle is propelled,

and springs actingon said legs to swing one ahead of the other as they are alternately lifted from theground in the rocking motion of said figure. v p

3. A toy vehicle comprising a wheeled frame, a walking figure having swivel con nection with the forward end of said frame, a

pair of legs pivotally mounted for Walking motion along the ground as the vehicle moves in a forward direction, pedal actuated driving members for said wheels operatively connected with said legs for swinging the same in one direction, a seat pivotally mounted in said frame and connected with said figure, said seat being tilt-able from side to side to rock said figure, and tension means acting oneach leg to swing the same ahead of the other as it is lifted from the ground with i the rocking motion of said figure,

4. A vehicle comprising a frame, a pair of Wheels at the rear of said frame, a walking figure having several connections with the forward end of said frame,"and having legs in supporting contact with the ground 7 i and pivotally connected with said figure for swinging movement in parallel planes, said legs having feet with longitudinally and transversely rounded bottoms, pedal operated means for propelling said vehicle, a seat pivotally mounted on said frame and connected with said figure to rock the same from side to side as the pedals are alternately depressed, and springs acting on said legs to swing one ahead of the other as they are alternately-lifted from the ground by the rocking motion of said figure.

' Signed at Fort Worth this 26th day of i June, 1929.

WILLIAM O, YANCEY; 

